An ethnoreligious group (or ethno-religious group) is an ethnic group of people whose members are also unified by a common ethnic religion background. Ethnoreligious communities define their ethnic identity neither exclusively by ancestral heritage nor simply by religious affiliation, but often through a combination of both[citation needed] (a long shared history; a cultural tradition of its own; either a common geographical origin, or descent from a small number of common ancestors; a common language, not necessarily peculiar to the group; a common literature peculiar to the group; a common religion different from that of neighbouring groups; being a minority or being an oppressed or a dominant group within a larger community).[citation needed]

In an ethnoreligious group, particular emphasis is placed upon religious endogamy, and the concurrent discouragement of interfaith marriages or intercourse, as a means of preserving the stability and historical longevity of the community and culture.[citation needed] This adherence to religious endogamy can also, in some instances, be tied to ethnic nationalism if the ethnoreligious group possesses a historical base in a specific region.[citation needed]

Contents

In Australian law, the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW) defines "race" to include "ethnic, ethno-religious or national origin".[1] The reference to "ethno-religious" was added by the Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Act 1994 (NSW).[2]John Hannaford, the NSW Attorney-General at the time, explained that "The effect of the latter amendment is to clarify that ethno-religious groups, such as Jews, Muslims and Sikhs, have access to the racial vilification and discrimination provisions of the Act. ...extensions of the Anti-Discrimination Act to ethno-religious groups will not extend to discrimination on the ground of religion."[3][4]

The definition of "race" in Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (Tas) likewise includes "ethnic, ethno-religious or national origin".[5] However, unlike the NSW Act, it also prohibits discrimination on the grounds of "religious belief or affiliation" or "religious activity".[6]

In the United Kingdom the landmark legal case Mandla v Dowell-Lee placed a legal definition on ethnic groups with religious ties, which in turn has paved the way for definition of ethnoreligious[7] group. Both Jews[8][9] and Sikhs[10][11][12] were determined to be ethnoreligious groups under the Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Act 1994 (see above).

a long shared history, of which the group is conscious as distinguishing it from other groups, and the memory of which it keeps alive;

a cultural tradition of its own, including family and social customs and manners, often but not necessarily associated with religious observance. In addition to those two essential characteristics the following characteristics are, in my opinion, relevant:

either a common geographical origin, or descent from a small number of common ancestors;

a common language, not necessarily peculiar to the group;

a common literature peculiar to the group;

a common religion different from that of neighbouring groups or from the general community surrounding it;

being a minority or being an oppressed or dominant group within a larger community. For example, a conquered people (say, the inhabitants of England shortly after the Norman conquest) and their conquerors might both be ethnic groups

The significance of this case was that groups like Sikhs and Jews could be protected under the Race Relations Act 1976. This has led to some subsequent controversial court decisions.[13]

↑ 21.021.1Marty, Martin E. (1997). Religion, Ethnicity, and Self-Identity: Nations in Turmoil, University Press of New England. "[...] the three ethnoreligious groups that have played the roles of the protagonists in the bloody tragedy that has unfolded in the former Yugoslavia: the Christian Orthodox Serbs, the Roman Catholic Croats, and the Muslim Slavs of Bosnia."

↑Arrington, Leonard J. (1994). History of Idaho, University of Idaho Press.. See alsoMay, Dean (1980). Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, Harvard University Press. (describing Mormons as an ethnic group); Epperson, Steven (1999). A notion of peoples: a sourcebook on America's multicultural heritage, 411–27, Greenwood Publishing Group. (arguing that Mormonism has become an ethnicity in addition to a religion).